Synopsis:
James Bond has just been awarded his 00, or licence to kill. After breaking the rules of diplomacy in Uganda, he goes to the Caribbean for a little R & R. He finds himself in a high stakes poker game with a character with criminal connections.
He is soon despatched to the exclusive Casino Royale, with £10 million of the government’s money, and the moneys prickly but attractive babysitter to play in the mother of all poker games. What follows is a complex web of bluffs, double bluffs, killings, kidnappings and betrayals that will shape Bond’s entire outlook on life.
Verdict:
After the debacle that was DIE ANOTHER DAY, production company Eon were going to have to do some serious thinking in order to resuscitate the terminally ill Bond franchise. Directors came and went, actors were attached and released, and just when speculation had reached fever pitch came the announcement: Daniel Craig was the new Bond. Cue lots of huffing and puffing from the die hard fans, thoughtful nods from the industry, and lots of giggling from the girls, most of whom were thinking of the shower scene in LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER. With Director Martin Campbell on board, the man who had previously reinvented the franchise with GOLDENEYE, the potential was there. Then came the trailers: tantalising glimpses of wince inducing violence and a Bond who looked more than capable of killing in cold blood. We’d been promised a film that would show the birth of the Bond myth. Could it be that the producers had actually delivered what they promised?
Yes. And then some.
The pre-credit sequence eschews the usual high octane action sequence, going instead for a low key introduction to our protagonist, in cold, detached black and white. Then comes the gloriously retro title sequence, before you are launched in to the film. The first action set piece is enough to leave you breathless, from the actors’ exertions, the deliciously fast pacing, and the sheer jaw dropping audacity of it. Here is a Bond who can be hurt. If he has the mire kicked out of him, he feels it and he bleeds. He does not make a cringe-worthy quip and straighten his already immaculate tie. Fans of the book who are concerned that the torture scene doesn’t make the cut, rest assured that it does, in all its toe-curling, stomach churning glory.
Daniel Craig’s Bond has the intensity that makes him a believably formidable foe, even as he is trying to find his feet as a 00 agent. Craig has excellent support in his fellow cast. Judi Dench is at her acid-tongued best as M, whether lamenting the demise of the Cold War, or giving Bond a deserved dressing down. Eva Green, is the prickly, outrageously sexy Vespa Lynd, who combines a hard-ass repartee with a touching vulnerability. Mads Mikkelsen is fantastically understated as the villainous Le Chiffre. With no cackling, no white cats, and no underground lairs, the only slightly camp touch is the fact that he weeps blood.
CASINO ROYALE is not without its not slightly hokey parts. For instance, I doubt that Bond would be thinking about getting laid so soon after being tortured in such an inventive way, but where it outstrips the most recent efforts, is in the development of its characters beyond the bare minimum needed to make the story hang together. Gone are the cartoonish quips, telegraphed three minutes in advance and clunking awkward dialogue. In are laugh out loud moments of inspired comedy, often in counterpoint to moments of genuine dramatic tension.
The Venice set finale sequence continues the breathless, dare to blink pace established earlier in the film. By the time the end credits begin to roll, the realisation that you have just witnessed the birth of a legend is tempered only by the knowledge that it’s going to be at least two years before the next film.
In short:
Bond reinvented for the noughties. Stunning action gives way to less frantic, but nonetheless tension filled scenes. Any doubts about Craig’s ability to adequately fill the Aston Martin, will be kicked in to touch by his blistering performance.
Kristen Platt